The Pokemon Fic With No Name
by Songbreeze the Omnipresent
Summary: T as a general setting. There may be a few battle scenes later. Anyway. Pokemon fic. Girl from this world, likes pokemon, pulled into the pokemon world to help save it. Oh, hey, just read it, then you'll find out.
1. Meeting Jill

**Disclaimer:** Only Jill and the situation are mine. All pokemon names are, of course trademarked… Nintendo? Yes, that's right, and eventually Satoshi Tajiri's. I apologise to everyone for the awful way Mewtwo has been depicted. My head hangs in shame, and I beg forgiveness for that sin. But then, I wrote this a while ago, when I was slightly younger, and slightly less adept at writing. *Nods* Enjoy the show.****

Somewhere, deep in a rainforest, much unexplored, a girl sat, waiting. She looked about twelve, but something in the confident way she sat implied an age far beyond her years. She wore a faint, small, expectant smile, and sat patiently for a few hours, before her smile widened and she turned slowly, standing as she did so. Mew floated in the air, and looked her over curiously, before turning upside down, smiling brightly.

"Meeeew!"

The girl laughed, and a small sphere appeared between them. Mew floated closer to it, turning the right way up, mouth a small 'o' of inquisitiveness. The girl smiled, and the sphere suddenly grew larger, making the pattern on it and the 'M' shape more visible. Mew jumped backwards in surprise, then put his head on one side and stared at the girl. "Mew?" All of a sudden, the ball shot forward, hit Mew, and bounced back, snapping open as Mew turned into a red silhouette and was then sucked inside the sphere. The ball snapped shut and dropped to the ground, where it rocked from side to side. The girl chewed her bottom lip, and then swiftly scooped up the ball the moment it stopped rocking. She pressed a button and it opened again, sending Mew out into the real world again. The pink feline stretched out and glanced sharply left, then to its right, as if to ask where the walls had gone. The girl laughed, and scratched Mew behind its ear. The psychic kitten like creature closed its eyes and smiled.

"Meeeew…"

The girl laughed. _ Want to come with me? _She asked psychically.

Mew smiled, replying straight to her mind. _Sure. Why not? Is it as though I have a choice, anyway? You did happen to catch me. May I ask how?_

The girl tossed the ball in the air and caught it. "Master Ball." She said. "_Never_ fails."

Mew smiled and floated nearer. _Where do you want to go now, my fair lady?_

The girl curtsied, eyes dancing. "Take a guess, my liege." Mew smiled broadly and both disappeared.

Somewhere right in the heart of the forest, a place that humans had no idea existed, where even the wild pokémon rarely ventured if they could help it, a human girl and Mew appeared. The girl smiled, and turned around, to see something that managed to surprise her slightly. It looked something like an Aztec or an Incan temple. The girl glanced at her Mew.

"_He_ lives here?"

Mew nodded. The girl grinned and walked forwards, Mew floating behind her. The huge doors were locked, but they flew open with a bang when the girl neared them. She laughed and strolled inside, heading straight for the large main room, where the occupant of the temple waited in curiosity. The girl bowed with a flourish as she neared him, and he replied with a nod. She smiled as Mew floated in and waited beside her. Mewtwo raised an eyebrow.

"I did wonder who could throw open _my_ doors with such force." The girl laughed.

"Oh, Mew only brought me here, bless his sweet little heart." Mew, even though already pink, somehow managed to create the impression of an embarrassed blush.

The girl continued. "_I_ opened the doors." Mewtwo looked surprised, and floated closer to inspect the girl, who waited patiently, still wearing her smile.

Mewtwo nodded. "Strong. Very, very strong. I have not seen the like of it in a human before."

The girl's smile grew slightly. "Oh good! Then all my training hasn't been wasted!" With a sudden flick of her arm, another Master Ball rocketed towards Mewtwo, hit his instinctive shield, and bounced back. Mewtwo laughed, but it quickly turned into a cry of surprise as he turned to a red silhouette and then disappeared into the ball. The moment the ball hit the ground, the girl dived forwards and seized it, holding it tight in her hands until it stopped rocking, and the button on the front turned white instead of red. Immediately, she pressed the button, sending Mewtwo out, with a look of shock on his face. Mew started giggling. The girl bowed, then laughed and hugged Mewtwo, turning and then hugging Mew as well.

Mewtwo managed a faintly surprised smile. "I take it I'm in for some travelling now? Pray tell me the name of the trainer who dares try – and succeed, nonetheless – to catch _me_."

The girl smiled. "I've met Mew before, briefly, but you can both call me Jill, for want of a better name."

Mewtwo nodded as Mew spun in mid air, smiling happily. "Back into Johto then, trainer Jill?"

Jill smiled. "Indeed, _my_ Mewtwo."

The trio appeared in Blackthorn City, just outside the Ice Path. Jill smiled, and pointed at Blackthorn. "Pretty isn't it? And it's a nice day too. Hardly a cloud in the sky." 

Mewtwo glanced up at the sky, as if noticing it for the first time. He looked back down at Jill, a thoughtful expression on his face. "You're not exactly from Johto, are you Jill?" The girl paused, then shook her head and Mewtwo continued. "Nor Kanto either?"

Jill laughed. "What gave me away, as if I need ask?"

Mewtwo smiled slightly. "Your observations. You point out things that those who live here have grown used to. Besides that, I'm psychic, remember?"

Jill grinned. "Anything else you would like to know?"

Mewtwo nodded slowly. "Tell me. Where do you really come from?"

Jill paused. "I'll tell you, although Mew here already knows some of it. All I ask is that you believe my story, because it is true."

Mewtwo nodded his agreement, and Mew smiled and giggled. He liked stories! Jill sat on a rock and began her tale.

*         *         *

The girl yawned and saved her game, turning off her Gameboy and turning it over with a smile to see a picture of Suicune. Pokémon Crystal at last! She put her Gameboy on her bedside table, and glanced at the clock. She winced when she saw how late it was, then glanced at the little model of Mew and smiled. It was so cute, and it mewed when you put your hand in front of its eyes!  She turned off the light and settled down to go to sleep.

She hadn't been asleep long when her eyes fluttered open. She rolled over to check her clock, and then froze. Her little electronic Mew model was glowing! As she watched it faded, then all went back to the black of night. The numbers on her clock showed up brightly. Past midnight. She stayed awake for a while longer, then sleep overcame her again as she thought that she could do nothing at the moment.

In the morning, the girl ferreted out the box for her Mew and read all the instructions and danger warnings etc. It said nothing about the Mew glowing. The day passed slowly and the girl waited impatiently for night to come.

You cannot hurry time, although the girl certainly tried hard enough, but eventually night rolled around again. The girl examined her Mew model carefully, and found a thin, hairline crack around its ear. She tried to stay awake for as long as she could. She must have fallen asleep though, because she suddenly found her eye open, facing her glowing Mew. She sat up and watched it, only looking away to glance at the clock and see what time it was. Just after midnight. Suddenly, the model split a little apart, and light shot out from the crack. The girl gasped, and then the model glowed so brightly that she closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, the model was not glowing. She turned her light on, and saw two halves of her Mew on her bedside table. She sighed. Something tapped her on the shoulder, and she whirled around, half expecting her mother there, and her mouth already framing the words "I didn't do it!" There was nobody there. She frowned, then turned back to the Mew model and picked the pieces up. She sighed again. Alas, for she would never hear its Mew again! She smiled. It didn't really matter. Besides, she could mimic most of the pokémon from the cartoons anyway. She tried out an experimental mew, then grinned and began to quietly sing the last post, with mews in place of any notes. She paused for a moment, and thought she heard a slight echo to her voice. She laughed quietly and mentally told herself to stop being silly. She thought she felt something tap her on the shoulder again, and turned around, faster than she thought she was able. She caught a glimpse of a pink tail disappearing behind her, and gasped. Her eyes narrowed, and then she finished off the last post, suddenly turning on the last note to catch Mew floating behind her, singing along. It jumped, then smiled brightly as it saw that it had been caught in the act. The girl shook her head in amazement, and when Mew mewed a hello to her, she could only reply with a quavering imitation. A frown crossed onto Mew's pink face.

"Mewmew mew meeeew!" _You've done better than that before._

A smile slowly crept onto the girl's face, tugging at the corners of her mouth before she started laughing, almost hysterically. Mew turned upside down, blinking. The girl controlled herself, calming down until she was only fighting laughter.

"Can't be real." She shook her head. "Got to be a dream."

Mew frowned. "Mew?" _Why can't I be real?_

It floated closer, and the girl reached out a hand. She tickled the pink psychic under its chin. It certainly _felt_ real.

Mew smiled. "Mew mew mewmewmew meeew!" _So seeing isn't believing, but touching is?_

The girl smiled, and then blinked, and gasped as she floated up. Mew giggled as the girl tried to get back down again.

"Mewmew mew!" _Not with the body, with the mind, you fool!_

The girl stifled a laugh. "Are you telling me..."

Mew interrupted. "Mewmew! Mew mewmew." _Don't **try** to get down, **think** of getting down. Then you can ask if you're a psychic._

The girl smiled, then thought hard about dropping back to her bed. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw blue flame curl up around her, and then it was pushed back by pink flame.

"Mew!" _Concentrate!_

The girl laughed. _Use the Force, Luke…_ She grinned, and did as Mew asked. The blue flame returned, and pushed away the pink flame quite easily, although the pink flames noticeably tried to stay. The girl dropped back to her bed with some force. She blinked a few times.

"Okay, so you let me go then. Now can I ask my questions?"

Mew nodded.

"Okay then. First off. What the heck is a _Mew_ doing in my bedroom? Pokémon isn't real!"

Mew looked so miserable that the girl almost apologised before it replied.

"Mewmewmew! Mew mewmew!" _Of course it is! But I came to collect you._

The girl blinked. "You what? Collect me?"

Mew nodded and continued. "Mew mewmewmew meew." _You should come to the real world._

The girl smothered a laugh. "This _is_ the real world."

Mew shook its head. "Mewmew – meeew.." **_My_**_ real world – Pokémon._

The girl nodded slowly. "Okay. So why should I go?"

There was a hint of a smile on her face.

"Mew mew." _We need you._

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Why do you need me?"

Mew paused. "Mewmew mew. Mew mewmew. Meeeew." _You have many pokémon. You are a strong trainer, rarely beaten. You are a powerful psychic – you beat me._

The girl frowned. "I have many pokémon?"

Mew only pointed with its tail, at the Gameboy. She nodded slowly.

"Alright, I see. But you haven't said why you need me yet."

Mew nodded back to her. "Mewmew mew. Mewmew, mewmewmew. Mew mewmewmew." _Our world is in danger. We have too few potent pokémon trainers, and not enough of them have the right pokémon. Besides that, you are a stronger psychic than Mewtwo or Celebi or even the Unown._

The girl rubbed her head. "Whatever you say. But I'm beginning to get a headache you know. You're a psychic, so why don't you skip all the Mewing and speak straight to my mind?"

Mew smiled and giggled. _If you wish._

The girl nodded. "That's better. But I still find it a little hard to believe your story." _Or even that you're really here._ She added silently.

Mew sighed in annoyance. "Mew!" It said, just to annoy her, while speaking to her mind.

_For someone who has wanted to believe that Pokémon existed for so long, you certainly put up enough of a fight against it! Perhaps I should just return and watch my world die?_

The girl shook her head. "Point taken. Quickly then, before I change my mind. 'Collect' me."

A smile slowly broke onto Mew's face, then it waggled its tail, and pink and blue flame engulfed both of them. Light grew brighter and the girl shut her eyes.

When she blinked awake she was on the bottom bed of a bunk bed. She frowned, then stretched and swung her legs round, sitting on the edge of the bed and blinking. She looked around the smallish room she was in, and spotted a pair of trainers underneath a chair and a belt slung over the top. She looked down at herself. She was already wearing day clothes, so she shrugged and went to put the trainers and the belt on. There was a blue jacket on the end of the bed as well, so she picked it up and then walked out of the room.

She walked into a Pokémon Centre. That was all she could say. It looked just like the ones from the cartoon series, where Ash, Misty and Brock or Tracey had stayed overnight. Nurse Joy glanced up from the counter and smiled, coming over to her.

"Your pokémon are all back to their full health. I'll just fetch them for you."

The girl nodded silently, still surprised, as Joy turned and disappeared into a room behind the counter. The girl looked around, taking in everything around the place. All the people, a couple of pokémon out of their pokéballs, trainers laughing as a Psyduck tripped over its feet. A moment later Nurse Joy reappeared, carrying a tray with six pokéballs on it. She held it out to the girl.

"There you go."

The girl smiled. "Thank you." She clipped the pokéballs back onto the belt in their places, and glanced around the room again, then she strolled outside.

The Espeon twitched its forked tail and watched as an Umbreon appeared out of the next pokéball and stretched luxuriously. It trotted around the Espeon and then sat down on the ground to watch as a Pidgeot flapped its wings a few times and then stood back to wait patiently for the others. A Sentret appeared, and immediately used its tail to gain a higher viewpoint, before dropping back down. Their trainer laughed, and tossed out another pokéball. It fell open as it hit the ground, but nothing came out. The trainer frowned, and threw the last pokéball. It did the same. The Espeon glanced at the Umbreon, which glanced back with a look full of puzzlement. The trainer picked up the pokéballs and examined them. They were both black, with an M shape on the front. She sighed, and looked at her pokémon, speaking to them psychically.

_Are you up for a trip? I've got some capturing, or should that be **re**capturing, to do._

The Espeon, Umbreon and Sentret nodded, and she put them back in their pokéballs, and the Pidgeot spread its wings, pausing only a moment for her to leap onto its back before soaring away.

*         *         *

Jill paused for breath, then smiled. "My Pidgeot flew me to Cianwood City. I realised that was as far as he could take me, so I put him back in his pokéball and then I remembered that I was a psychic, so I could teleport to the middle of the jungle. Then I captured Mew here, and he teleported us to your temple – which, I may say, was very tastefully decorated. Perhaps a little over the top on the Lord of the Jungle theme, hmm?"

Mewtwo smiled. Jill nodded.

"The rest you know. But now it's my turn."

Mewtwo glanced at Mew. "You have a question, trainer Jill?"

She nodded. "But first off, stop calling me trainer Jill. Just Jill will do."

She paused, then pointed at Mew. "You said it. 'You have many pokémon'. That's what you said. And they were all there. All except you two. Because I had you two on my game, and I expected you there when I found all the others there. So why weren't you?"

Mew paused. "Mewmew…"

He caught a look from Jill and stopped. _Well, on your game, you had more then one Mewtwo, and more than one of me._

Jill nodded. "I traded Mewtwos across from my old games – Red, Blue and Yellow. My friend cloned Mews and gave them to me, and then I got another one."

Mew nodded. _When you came here, it was like the game had to delete all but one of each of them, and it combined them all into one instead. But you had them all in different places, so it didn't know what to do._

Jill realised where this was heading. "So it released you instead."

Mew turned upside down. _It was as though you had never had us._

Jill grinned. "But now I do."

Mewtwo laughed. "I didn't understand a word of that, but here I am, ready to serve, as they say."

Jill smiled, and released her other pokémon. "You said your world needed saving?"

_To be continued…_


	2. Meeting Claire

**Disclaimer:** No, pokémon isn't mine. Jill is. The nicknames of Jill's pokémon _are_ mine. The nicknames of Claire's pokémon belong to… er… somebody else. You know who you are. I don't claim the credit. *winks* Claire herself isn't mine either. She's the same other person's. The male trainer who appears at the beginning is loosely based on someone else. Technically, he and his pokémon are mine, because I decided what he'd be like. But hey. He knows he's in here, but he's probably never going to read this anyway, so what does it matter? Nurse Joy, pokémon centres, names of the species and type of pokémon all belong to Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri, yadayada, and so on and so on. You know the drill. Now. Here's the next part.

The Espeon rolled over, then sprang back up onto her feet. Her trainer glanced at her watch, then yelled "Morning Sun!" The Espeon stood still for a moment, healing herself. The boy's Rhydon shook its head, then prepared itself for another Body Slam. The Espeon glanced to her trainer. "Sunshine! Use Psychic!" Sunshine turned back to the Rhydon as it came charging, and blue fire surrounded both pokémon, before Rhydon was stopped in its tracks, then thrown back. Its trainer jumped out of the way as the Rhydon skidded to a halt on the ground. It struggled to get up, then collapsed back down. The boy gasped, then returned it to its pokéball.

"You did fine, but I think Charmeleon'll have a better shot."

So saying, he tossed a pokéball up, releasing his Charmeleon.

"Quickly! Flamethrower!"

The girl yelled to her Espeon. "Dodge it Sunshine! Bite attack!"

The Espeon threw itself to one side, and landed running. Her trainer ducked to avoid the Flamethrower, keeping her eyes on the battle as the Charmeleon turned to face the Espeon, which ducked around behind it and used Bite on the Charmeleon's tail, staying away from the flame. The boy danced anxiously on the sidelines.

"Ember it!"

The Charmeleon powered up an Ember attack, and the girl called to her Espeon again.

"Timing! Let go!"

The Espeon rolled away as the Charmeleon fired its Ember, causing it to flame its own tail. The psychic was up again in a moment.

"Alright! Now finish this with a psychic!"

The Charmeleon stopped trying to take the pain away from its tail as it was surrounded with blue fire and the same thing happened to it as had happened to the boy's Rhydon. It was returned to its pokéball, and then the boy turned to the other trainer, who was hugging her Espeon, praising it.

"You're too tough!"

The girl laughed. "You challenged me! What did you expect? Are your pokémon okay?"

The boy nodded, and left, grumbling. The girl shook her head.

"Some people, eh Sunshine?"

There was a laugh from nearby, and the black haired trainer glanced up to see a brown haired girl with dancing eyes leaning against a tree, with her blue jacket hung up beside her. She made a show of looking around the forest clearing, then back to Sunshine's trainer.

"A very impressive display, if I may say so. Did he know you had an Espeon when he challenged you?"

The black haired trainer smiled, nodding.

"I should think so, seeing as Sunshine stays out of her pokéball nearly all of the time. I just don't think he knows much about pokémon, that's all." She looked after the way the boy went. "It's his pokémon I feel sorry for."

The other girl nodded. "I don't think he knew anything about Espeons at all. Certainly not that they were psychics, not until you defeated his Rhydon like that."

Sunshine's trainer nodded. "That's why I beat his Pidgey with Bite attacks. It's always handy to have a surprise waiting."

The other trainer smiled. "I quite agree. You appear to know a lot about pokémon."

She straightened up with a chuckle. "What type is an Umbreon?" She asked quickly.

Sunshine's trainer smiled. "Dark. The only pure Dark type known."

"Steelix?"

"Steel of course."

"Houndoom?"

"Dark and Fire."

"Celebi!" The brown haired girl grinned.

Sunshine's trainer laughed. "Grass and Psychic!"

The other girl snapped her fingers in mock annoyance.

"Darn. There goes my evil masterplan. But what colour is Skarmory?"

"Silver!"

"What's its evolution?"

"It doesn't evolve."

"And Chansey?"

"It's pink and it turns into Blissey. They both carry eggs but Blissey has white wing things like a necklace."

The brown haired girl laughed. "Well put. What colour's Ho-oh?"

Sunshine's trainer frowned, then smiled. "Rainbow!"

The other girl nodded. "And what does Eevee evolve into?"

"Vaporeon with a Water Stone, Jolteon with a Thunder Stone, Flareon with a Fire Stone, Espeon when it's delighted in the daytime, Umbreon when it's happy enough at nighttime!"

The other girl smiled. "Okay, okay! Point taken!"

Sunshine's trainer nodded. "Good. Name the leader of Blackthorn Gym."

The other girl started laughing, but managed to say, "Clair the Dragon Master, sister to Lance!"

"What about Goldenrod's Gym?"

"Whitney, with her Miltank."

"Azalea?"

"Bugsy the Bug Pokémon Master."

"Who's Falkner?

"The Violet City Gym Leader, and he uses Bird Pokémon."

"Pryce!"

"Um… Ice pokémon, Mahogany Town!"

"These are too easy for you, aren't they?"

"Yup."

Both girls laughed, then Sunshine's trainer narrowed her eyes. "Name the Elite Four _and_ what types of pokémon they use."

There was a pause, and Sunshine's trainer almost thought she had defeated the other girl before she started speaking.

"First of all there's Will, with his psychic types like Xatu. Then you meet Koga, with his ninja-like poisonous pokémon like Venomoth. The third is Bruno, he uses Fighting and Ground type pokémon like Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee and Hitmontop. Karen is next and likes Dark types like Houndoom, and Lance with his dragons was the champion!"

Sunshine's trainer paused, then smiled slowly. "Right. But you said Lance _was _the champion? Past tense?"

The brown haired girl nodded. "He was. Until I beat him."

There was another pause, and then Sunshine's trainer nodded.

"Would you care for a battle?"

The other girl nodded. "Certainly, if it will make you believe that I'm the League Champion."

Sunshine's trainer frowned. "Did I say I didn't believe you?"

The other girl smiled. "No. But you don't anyway."

Sunshine's trainer laughed. "Alright then. Three on three?"

At a nod from the other girl, she tossed up a pokéball.

"In that case I'll start with Fury!"

The brown haired girl laughed, and unclipped a pokéball from her belt. She cradled it in her hands, then tossed it straight up with both.

"I choose Canth!"

She neatly caught the pokéball again as her Dragonite appeared. Then the fight began.

The black haired girl's Typhlosion used Flame Wheel straight away, but Canth flew away from it. Following her trainer's orders, Fury jumped up as high as she could, firing a Flamethrower at the peak of her jump. Canth spiralled down lower, dodging it with ease as his trainer noticed something clutched tightly in Fury's paw.

"Canth! Stay away from those fire attacks! She's got Charcoal!"

Canth nodded, and dodged another Flamethrower, then suddenly coming down in a stoop dive and seizing Fury around the middle as she fell back from her jump. He flew up high, then wheeled around and came back down towards the ground at high speed. The Typhlosion twisted in his grip, and fired a Flame Wheel. Canth promptly dropped her, spiralling down for a clumsy landing, glancing mournfully at his injured wing before folding it away. Fury rolled over and got up, and powered up a Flamethrower.

"Canth! Hyper Beam!"

The two attacks met in a blaze of fury halfway between the two pokémon, but Fury's Flamethrower was pushed back quickly, and the Hyper Beam struck her hard. She struggled to get to her feet, and flopped down again. Her trainer ran over as her flame collar went down.

"You did your best. It was only a battle, it doesn't matter. You matter. Get some rest in your pokéball."

The other girl turned away from praising her Dragonite. "Is she okay?"

Sunshine's trainer nodded, getting up with a smile.

"Nothing a quick trip to a pokémon centre won't fix. You're good. But are you good enough?" She turned to her waiting Espeon. "Your turn now, Sunshine!"

The other girl laughed, putting her Dragonite back in its pokéball.

"We'll play fair. Separate battles, switch the winning pokémon as well."

Sunshine's trainer nodded, and the girl smiled slowly.

"Are you sure about using your Espeon yet?"

There was a pause, then the girl laughed. "Sunshine, come and wait back here for this one. Go on out Alakazam!"

The other girl grinned. "A psychic! Perfect!"

Sunshine's trainer hardly had a moment to think, "Sunshine's a psychic too! Why swap?" before the other girl had another pokéball out and called, "Go Pawa!"

An Umbreon blinked and looked around, then focused on Alakazam.

"Bite down on that psychic!"

Pawa did so before Sunshine's trainer could yell "Psybeam!" in desperation for something to hurt the pure Dark type with. Alakazam received the maximum amount of damage from Pawa's Bite, and staggered backwards as the Umbreon attacked again, hardly deterred at all from the Psybeam.

"Alakazam! Recover!" Sunshine's trainer yelled, but too late.

Alakazam stumbled forwards, then fell over and was zapped back into his pokéball. His trainer made an attempt to look disgruntled.

"Type advantage! Sunshine, you're up."

The Espeon trotted forward, and sat down.

"Pawa, come back over here. You did great."

The girl stroked her Umbreon's ears, and he sat at her side to watch the last battle. His trainer smiled, and plucked the first pokéball in the line from her belt.

"Now then. A battle you wanted, a battle you've got. Psychic against psychic. I want to prove a point."

She tossed the black pokéball into the air, and the other trainer saw the M shape whirl around once before the ball opened. There was a red line, similar to a lightning flash, connecting a red silhouette to the ball, then the ball snapped shut and dropped down to the girl's waiting hand as Mewtwo flexed his paws. Sunshine's trainer frowned.

"What…? It's not possible! You can't have a legendary! That's not fair! It must be a Ditto! Sunshine, Bite it!"

The Espeon raced forward, and Mewtwo held up one paw.

"I am no Ditto."

Sunshine kept running, but she couldn't move forwards. The girl clenched her fists.

"I don't want you to hurt her! She can't hurt you!"

Mewtwo nodded. "As you wish."

Sunshine floated backwards, and was released at her trainer's feet. The Espeon ran forwards again.

"Sunshine! Psychic!"

Sunshine was stopped in her tracks again, but her Psychic attack flashed forward. It stopped a centimetre away from Mewtwo's face, who didn't even blink before it curled round and shot back towards Sunshine. 

"No!" Both girls called out at once, but the attack spread around Sunshine, as if around a sphere.

"Sunshine!" Yelled her trainer.

Mewtwo glanced at his trainer. "The Espeon did not raise the shield. Why did you?"

Sunshine's trainer sighed with relief as the other girl blinked.

"I told you. I don't want you to hurt her."

Mewtwo looked faintly annoyed. "The attack would have stopped before it hit her."

His trainer shrugged. "I know. But Sunshine didn't, and neither did her trainer."

The other girl smiled. "Okay. We can stop fighting now I believe you on two things. You are the League Champion, and somehow, I don't know how, you have a Mewtwo."

Mewtwo's trainer laughed. "That's not all I have. Mewtwo, let Sunshine go will you?"

The psychic did so, and the Espeon slunk back to her trainer, managing to look surprised as the girl released Mew as well, much to the little psychic's delight.

"Meeeew!"

Sunshine's trainer started to smile.

"Mewtwo, show her what else I've got tucked away on my PC."

Mewtwo smiled, and 3D pictures of Lugia, Ho-oh, Entei, Raikou, Suicune, Moltres, Zapdos, Articuno and twenty-six different forms of the Unown appeared before Sunshine's trainer, who laughed.

"You have got to be joking."

The other girl waved a hand and the pictures disappeared.

"I joke a lot, but not this time. Now, both of our sets of pokémon are hurt and tired, but there's a Pokémon Centre nearby. Why don't the two of us head along there?"

The Nurse Joy of Goldenrod City was very surprised when two girl trainers strolled into the Pokémon Centre, with two Espeons beside them, an Umbreon trotting ahead of them, and Mewtwo and Mew behind. For a moment, everything stopped in the Centre as in unison, all of the pokémon trainers flipped open their Pokedexes.

"Mewtwo. No further information. Mew. No further information. Espeon. The evolved form of Eevee. Psychic. Umbreon. The Evolved form of Eevee. Dark type. Immune to psychic attacks."

There was a pause, then all of the pokémon trainers leapt up and raced over, swamping the two girls with offers for trading, or offers for battles. A space grew around the two girls, as if the trainers were being pushed back. Nurse Joy watched in amazement as the girls trotted forward, and the trainers seemed to walk into an invisible wall when they tried to follow. The girls exchanged a glance, and the black haired girl smiled as the other suppressed a giggle, before turning to the still surprised Nurse Joy.

"Can you heal our pokémon please?"

Nurse Joy nodded, managing a smile as the brown haired psychic continued.

"They aren't badly hurt really, but we'd like to see them fully better."

Nurse Joy nodded, and took Canth's, Fury's and Alakazam's pokéballs to be healed while the two girls went outside to sit in the sunshine instead of the dull, in comparison, inside of the Pokémon Centre.

On the way up to Goldenrod from the Ilex Forest, the two girls had gotten to know each other quite well. Sunshine's trainer was called Claire, and the trainer of Mewtwo was Jill. After the little display in the fight, it came as no surprise to Claire to learn that Jill was a psychic, but it did surprise her that she was a stronger psychic than Mewtwo and Mew put together. But as she put it, "I've disbelieved enough for today, so I might as well believe you on this one!" They found that each loved pokémon as much as the other, they knew as much about pokémon as each other, and between them they had nearly every pokémon that had been discovered.

"Celebi would be good to have…" Jill mentioned wistfully.

Claire smiled. "Good for you to have, or good for me to have?"

Jill laughed. "Good to have in general!" Then she glanced back into the Pokémon Centre. "Fury, Canth and Alakazam are healthy again."

Claire glanced back then got up and went to fetch them. Jill looked to her Mewtwo, peacefully watching the sun.

"Is it her?" She asked.

Mewtwo blinked, then looked back down at his friend.

"And before you ask 'is it her, what', I'll tell you now you know fine well." Jill added.

Mewtwo smiled. "She is one of the few, yes."

Jill grinned. "I knew it!"

Claire returned, laughing at Fury and Canth's animated conversation, while her Alakazam was bending spoons in a preoccupied way. He jumped when they all straightened up again suddenly, and glanced up to see Mewtwo look away quickly, with a very rare grin on his usually blank face.

_To be continued…_


	3. Meeting Craig

**Disclaimer:** See chapters 1 and 2 for most of it. Craig himself technically does and doesn't belong to me, so no stealing, please. His pokémon nicknames _do_ belong to me, and while I'm on the subject, I may as well say that all of the nicknames in general belong to me. Whoo! No more disclaimers needed!

While in Goldenrod, the two girls visited all the attractions: the Radio Tower, the Gym, the Game Corner, and the Bike Shop.

They checked in on Bill's house and showed him their Espeons and Umbreon – the evolutions of abandoned Eevees he had left in their care.

Inevitably, they went to the shops, and, just outside the city, they paused and smiled at a Dratini sunning itself by a pool in the garden of the breeding centre.

They had a swift trip on the Magnet Train to Saffron City, where they visited Copycat's house, who was pleased to see them both again, as, it turned out, they had both searched for a doll of hers that she kept losing. Then they biked through to Celadon, and compared the Game Corner there to Goldenrod's, as well as the shopping centre and the prices, of course.

They visited the mansion and surfed across the pond to the blocked off house as well as visiting Erika and her grass pokémon, much to the Leader's delight at seeing them both again. Then, both leaving with an extra Berry in their packs, they cycled up to the Cycling Road, and Jill, with a laugh, challenged Claire to a freewheeling race down, which she accepted with a smile.

Jill's Umbreon sprinted alongside them, joining in the race, while the five psychics either glided down serenely but swiftly, or simply teleported to the end to judge the winner, while Fury rode on Canth's back, the Dragonite easily keeping pace with the two girls, and meaning to dart ahead at the bottom of the slope. But the race was halted in its tracks, as another trainer caught sight of them flying past, laughing, and both girls suddenly slammed on their brakes when he called out to them.

"Hey!"

Jill and Claire exchanged a glance, and Jill started to smile.

"You called?" She asked, cycling slowly back up the slope.

The black haired boy nodded. "Give you a battle," he said.

Jill glanced at Claire, her smile growing.

"With which one of us?"

The boy shrugged. "Either. Which of you's better?"

Claire made a face and immediately pointed at Jill, who had a sudden and mysterious coughing fit before saying, "I'm not better than she is. My pokémon are… different, that's all."

Claire doubled up, one hand covering her mouth as she fought laughter. Jill's smile grew larger, and her eyes danced as she refused to laugh.

The boy frowned. "What? I'll fight you then!"

He pointed at Jill again, who shrugged and nodded, and blinked slowly.

_Mewtwo, Mew, Ankh and Sunshine, Alakazam, come back up here for a moment, please. My pretty Mewtwo and Mew, a little invisibility would be appreciated as well._

Two Espeons glided up, making a pretence of walking as they kept their psychic abilities masked for the moment, in common agreement with their trainers. Alakazam appeared behind Claire and Jill smiled as she realised that both Mew and Mewtwo had teleported in behind her.

"You wanted a battle, I think."

The boy nodded.

"All six pokémon?" Jill asked politely.

"Yeah, let's get started."

 Claire stood back, and watched with interest as the boy released his Charizard, which roared and shot a blast of flame into the sky, before stamping the ground and glaring at Jill, who laughed and gestured for her Umbreon to step forwards. She grinned slowly as Pawa took up a defensive stance, keeping his head low, but staring straight at the Charizard. 

"Flamethrower!" Came the yell.

"Roll! Quick Attack!"

The blast of flame narrowly missed Pawa, as he rolled out of the way, and bounded up and shot for the Charizard, using his Quick Attack.

"Slash!"

"Bite!"

The two cries came almost at the same time, and the pokémon reacted swiftly. Pawa dived forwards and clamped his teeth down on the Charizard's thick tail, and the Flame type swung the Umbreon forwards, clawing viciously at the Dark pokémon. Pawa released the Charizard's tail and rolled away, jumping back up with injuries.

"Bite again!"

The boy countered swiftly. "Fly!"

Pawa bounded forwards, throwing himself at the Charizard, but hitting the ground and rolling instead. The Charizard hovered overhead.

"Flamethrower! Don't let it get away!"

The Charizard circled above Pawa, then started flaming the Umbreon as it tried to escape, following in the air above.

"Moonlight!"

The sky above turned dark and a spotlight seemed to snap on, trained on Pawa. The Umbreon struggled up to his feet. He stood, basking in the moonlight and becoming stronger again. The sky turned back to day. 

"Flamethrower again!"

Jill clenched her fists. "Dodge it! Jump and Bite!"

Pawa dived out of the way of the Flamethrower, and then paused. When the Charizard came down for another attack, Pawa leapt up high, catching its leg with his Bite attack. The boy's Charizard used Slash, knocking the Umbreon off. As Pawa fell back to the ground, it used Flamethrower, and the Umbreon only just managed to get back up. The Charizard landed smugly, as Pawa staggered upright.

"Take Down." Jill muttered.

"Ember!"

Pawa took off as the Charizard powered up an Ember to finish him off. He raced over, then leapt at the Charizard, using his Take Down. The Charizard stumbled backwards, as Pawa was hit with recoil. Both pokémon staggered slightly, watched each other for a moment, then keeled over. There was a moment of shocked silence as Jill suppressed a giggle at the sight, putting Pawa back into his pokéball to rest, and watching the boy do the same. The expression on his face! The boy then brought out a Blastoise. Jill paused for a moment, then called Canth forward.

The Dragonite fluttered his wings, and waited patiently. Jill folded her arms behind her back.

"Hyper Beam, if you'd be so good."

Canth powered it up, and the boy narrowed his eyes.

"Hydro Pump!"

The Hyper Beam lanced out before the Blastoise could strike, and the water type was knocked head over heels. He stayed down. The boy put him back in his pokéball, and let out his Venusaur.

"Um… Razor Leaf!"

Canth couldn't dodge it in time, and staggered backwards. Jill wrinkled her nose.

"Okay there Canth? Another Hyper Beam?"

The Dragonite nodded, and started powering up. The Venusaur struck with another Razor Leaf, and Canth fell over backwards. He tried to get up again, but couldn't. Jill put him back in his pokéball.

"Very well. Ankh. Your turn. A Venusaur is no problem."

The Espeon trotted calmly forwards, and the boy winced.

"Aw no… A psychic? Sorry, Ven. Leech seed, quick as you can!"

Jill idly stared at her fingernails.

"Ankh, sweetheart, a nice easy Psychic."

The Espeon tensed, and hit the Venusaur with a bolt of psychic flames. The grass and poison type staggered, then collapsed. The boy sighed, and returned him to his pokéball.

"Erm… Highflier! Fly!"

The Pidgeot shot out of its pokéball and into the sky, wheeling swiftly to dodge an attack. None came. Jill smiled slowly, and Ankh crouched low, watching. There was a long pause, and the two trainers locked gazes. He frowned slightly, and she grinned, waving.

"A-ankh," she sang out, "another Psychic please!"

The Espeon complied swiftly.

"Highflier, dodge it! Circle round and Wing Attack!"

Ankh dodged the first strike, but the bird was fast, and knocked her sideways with its other wing.

"Catch it now, and use Whirlwind!"

"Ankh! Confusion!"

As Ankh turned to leap back into the fight, the air swirled around, and she was caught in the Pidgeot's attack. Already weakened by the earlier blows, she tried a Confusion attack, but it was swept apart by the whirlwind, and never reached the bird. She came flying out of the spinning dust and air, and would have landed heavily had Jill not caught her. She wriggled slightly, willing to get back into the fight, but Jill smiled.

"Sit it out, friend of mine. Let the reserves take over."

Ankh consented to sit on the sidelines, and Jill paused for a moment as the boy and his Pidgeot waited.

"I think… that…"

_Mewtwo, please…_

The psychic stepped forwards to the battle, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. The boy frowned.

"What the… Highflier, Fly and Whirlwind!"

Jill inclined her head slightly.

"Swift."

Mewtwo raised a hand, and the Pidgeot was hit by a flurry of golden stars. It fell out of the air, but the boy put it back in its pokéball before it hit the ground. Jill danced slightly from one foot to the other.

"Next up?"

The boy with the black hair threw another pokéball angrily.

"Come on Genie! Night Shade!"

Jill straightened up sharply.

"Block it and Psychic!"

Mewtwo did as he was asked, sending the Gengar hurtling backwards from the force of his attack. The Ghost pokémon fainted quickly, and the boy replaced it with an Alakazam, his last pokémon. Jill smiled slightly.

"Metronome!"

Mewtwo paused for a short moment, casually blocking the Psybeam that the Alakazam sent, and then raised both hands. Flames poured out, and the Alakazam staggered and fell. Jill's eyes were wide.

"Oooh… Flamethrower… Well done indeed, my Mewtwo!"

The boy stared, and finally replaced the psychic in his pokéball. He pulled out his pokédex, and slowly pointed it at Mewtwo. It bleeped loudly.

"_Error_!_ No data_!"

The boy looked up, and stared at Jill and Claire.

"What _is_ that thing?"

Jill raised her eyebrows. "Meet Mewtwo, friend. The most powerful psychic in existence. Excepting Mew, of course." Right on cue, Mew appeared, and smiled brightly at the boy. Jill smiled. "Not a bad battle. What's your name?"

The boy blinked. "Craig."

Jill nodded. "Travelling alone?"

He nodded in return.

"How'd you like to travel with us?" Came Jill's next question.

Claire looked almost as surprised as Craig, who paused slightly before answering.

"Uh… Yeah! If you're going to the gyms, and Johto League too."

Jill grinned. "Well, that's sorted then. Fuchsia first?"

Craig nodded. "I was on my way there before. I thought I'd let my lot warm up first."

Jill grinned, and Claire chuckled. "Let's just say 'Oops' and leave it at that, then. On to Fuchsia!"

The three of them got back on their bikes, and resumed the speedy descent. Jill glanced at Mewtwo on the way down, as he teleported in small jumps to keep up with them.

_Another one?_

_Another one, Trainer Jill._

_Great! How many others are there?_

_Only two more._

_Even better. Oh, and Mewtwo?_

_Yes?_

_What have I said about the "Trainer Jill" thing?_

_To be continued…_

**A.N.**

Okay, that took far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far, far too long to do. And I'm very, very, very SOOOOOOOORRY and so on. There shouldn't be as big a gap as that again, especially seeing as I have a little more time these days.

Grateful thanks to _everyone_ who reviewed, and cookies to anyone who comes back!

Bait? Er… No, no, of course not!

Oh, yes, and I edited the first two slightly, getting rid of a few errors I missed the first times round. _ Forgive me…


	4. Meeting Sarah

"Hal, use Psychic!"

"Supersonic! Quickly!"

The Crobat folded up and fell out of the air. It was replaced in its pokéball, and its trainer was silent for a moment or two, contemplating her defeat. The opposing trainer punched the air.

"Yes! We did it! Take that, Janine!"

The girl hugged her Hypno, and then seemed to remember who she was talking to.

"Uh… Good battle!"

Janine smiled. "Very. You've beaten me, but I'm going to really apply myself and become better than both Father and you!"

A laugh came from the doorway, and Janine and all of the other trainers in the Gym turned to see who it was.

"As I remember, you said the exact same thing to me, Janine."

Jill strolled forwards, closely followed by Claire and Craig, and with Mewtwo and Mew accompanying them, albeit invisible to the other trainers. Janine grinned.

"Yes, I suppose I did. It's great to see you two again!"

Claire smiled, and Jill nodded.

"Same here. But aren't you forgetting something?"

Janine paused, then clapped a hand to her forehead. "Oops! Sorry!" She whirled around, and faced the trainer with the Hypno. "You're more than qualified for the Soul Badge. Here." She dug into a pocket, and pulled out a heart-shaped badge, half of which was white, and half black. "The defensive abilities of your pokémon should increase slightly now."

The Hypno's trainer grinned, and accepted the badge gladly. Janine smiled.

"Oh, and take this too. It's TM06, Toxic. It'll poison the other pokémon, and the damage will increase every time."

The Hypno's trainer smiled. "Oh, thanks. Come on Hal, we'll get going. Bye, Janine, see you whenever!"

Janine nodded. "Bye!"

Jill turned slowly, and watched the other girl until she had disappeared around the corner to visit the pokémon centre. She could see Mewtwo watching the Hypno's trainer as well, and knew that Mew was doing the same from his position on her shoulder. Claire waited for Jill to turn back, as Craig ventured forwards to place a challenge.

"What?"

Jill blinked, and looked around sharply. "What _what_?"

Claire smiled slightly. "Why are you staring at that girl?"

Jill shrugged carefully, so as not to dislodge Mew. "Oh… no reason."

At that moment, Janine trotted forwards, and most of the other trainers from her Gym followed.

"We'll have to heal our pokémon before your friend can fight us. If you'd wait here, we'll be back in a minute."

Jill nodded, and Craig leant against one of the statues near the door, releasing his pokémon so that they could relax a little before the fight. Claire and her Espeon moved off to take a closer look at the walls, and try and figure out the tricks that the Gym used to deter thieves or test trainers.

A minute or so passed before they realised that Jill was no longer inside the Gym.

Sarah was about to jump over the last of the ledges on Route 19, when she heard a shout behind her, and turned. The girl from the Gym leapt over the ledge to catch up with her, and Sarah raised her eyebrows.

"What do you want?"

Jill smiled. "Just to congratulate you on your victory over Janine."

There was a pause, and Sarah started to say, "Is that it?" when Jill interrupted.

"Oh, and to ask you if you'd like to travel with the three of us."

Sarah laughed. "Three? Have you got a split personality or something? You seem to be alone."

Jill shrugged. "Claire and Craig are back at the Gym, so that Craig can get his Soul Badge. Then we'll be moving on the same way as you, and I thought you might like some company."

Sarah frowned. "You also seem pretty sure that your Craig will beat Janine, and quickly, too."

Jill shrugged again. "I'd bet you he takes out all her pokémon with one of his."

Sarah began to smile. "What would you bet?"

"Oh, I don't know. My jacket?"

"Okay, you're on."

Janine's Ariados keeled over before it even got a chance to use its Swagger.

"Great, Al!"

Janine narrowed her eyes. "Okay, come on Stantler!"

Craig frowned slightly as the pokémon appeared. "Use Psychic again, Al!"

"Toxic, Stantler!"

The Psychic attack hit first, but the Stantler survived, and managed to poison Craig's Alakazam before his second Psychic took it down.

"Aw no! Come on, Al, you can do it! Psychic again!"  
Janine's third pokémon, the Crobat, collapsed and fell back into the pokéball, without even having a chance at fighting.

"Okay then, Weezing, use Poison Gas!"

The poison pokémon was quick to obey, but Craig's Alakazam was too fast.

"Blast straight through it with Psychic!"

Alakazam obeyed, and the Weezing was knocked out swiftly, but some of the gas remained, clouding the arena. Alakazam staggered slightly as the poison sapped his strength.

"Hang in there, Al!"

"Gligar!"

"Psychic again! Alright! Only one more to go, Al!"

"Come on out, Tentacruel!"

There was a moment of silence before Craig yelled, "Psychic!" again. Janine folded her arms calmly.

"Wrap."

The jellyfish-like pokémon took the Psychic blow without emotion, and then reached out, and caught hold of Alakazam, wrapping it up tightly in its tentacles. The poison knocked down Alakazam's health as the Wrap squeezed the breath out of him, pulling him in close to the Tentacruel.

"Hang in there Al!" Craig balled his fists, and then had an idea. "Send a Psychic through those tentacles, just like electricity through a wire!"

Alakazam was suddenly released as the Tentacruel fainted, and was replaced in its pokéball. Janine nodded as Craig ran to support his staggering Alakazam.

"Well done, Craig. It isn't often a Gym Leader gets beaten twice in a day. I put it down to the skill of the trainers who battled. Here. Your Soul Badge, and a Toxic TM for you as well."

Craig nodded. "Thanks, but I really have to get to the pokémon centre now. Maybe I'll see you again sometime."

Janine nodded in return, and bade him farewell.

Jill turned and grinned at Sarah as they strolled out to wait outside the pokémon centre. "Looks like I get to keep my jacket."

Sarah smiled. "And you gain some company, if you still want it."

Jill nodded. "But of course. First, you must meet Claire and Craig. Look, Alakazam's healed now, so why don't you go and introduce yourself?"

Sarah strolled off, and Jill swiftly turned to where  Mewtwo was standing, still invisible.

_And her?_

_Yes, she is the fourth._

_Is she the last?_

_No._

_Who else?_

_Just one more._

_Oh?_

_A boy._

_Oh._

_I believe his name is Andrew._

_Anything else?_

_He's waiting for us._

_To be continued…_

**A.N.** YAY! People! Reviews!

TinyWings: More story! Quickly, hmm? ^_^ Here, catch! *tosses two cookies* Don't forget to review this one too! 

Subieko: You brought me back. I owe you a debt, so another chapter arrives very quickly! To your questions: Yep, and yep. ^_^ Five for the world. And a pleasure to review. *bows*

Thank you! Wheet, two reviews! Yay! Oho, reviewing high, going loopy… *dances anyway*

Hopefully more is not too far off the horizon!


	5. Meeting Andrew

Mew wrapped his tail around Jill's waist as she hopped up to her Lapras's back. She turned to offer a hand to the others, only to find that they had jumped up easily. She grinned.

"I'd advise you to sit, and probably hang on to one of the bumps on Windrunner's shell." She paused. "Everyone on board?"

Claire and Craig showed no reaction to her question, having seen Mewtwo and Mew appear from nowhere before. Sarah, however, had not yet been informed, and raised her eyebrows questioningly. Jill gave her no answer, merely nodding, and darting forwards to stand just behind her Lapras's neck.

"Okay then!" She pointed dramatically, grinning slightly. "Full speed ahead to Seafoam Islands, Windrunner!"

The Lapras promptly started swimming, giving everyone on board a slight jolt backwards. Jill managed to keep her balance, with a little help from Mew, and then they were well on their way, at quite a fast pace.

Time passed slowly, even though the distance disappeared quickly. Claire and Sunshine seemed to be asleep, although Jill didn't venture closer to find out. Craig was lying flat on his stomach, and kept trying to catch the fish pokémon that Lapras passed. Jill had long ago sat down on one of the humps of Windrunner's shell, but only now she noticed that Sarah was leaning against one at the back, and busily sketching in a notepad. Jill picked her way over, and casually sneaked a glance at the picture.

"Wow! That's good!"

Sarah's head snapped up, and then she smiled, slightly self-consciously. "It's not finished yet. And it isn't that good."

Jill grinned, looking down at the black and white image of herself standing and looking the way Lapras was heading, Craig desperately trying to catch a fish, and Claire and Sunshine supposedly asleep.

As Jill examined the picture, Mew appeared in front of Sarah's eyes, gazing curiously at the drawing. Sarah jumped, and the notebook flew up into the air, turning over lazily as it fell back towards the water. Sarah's eyes widened drastically, and she leapt up, making a frantic grab at the book. Amazingly, she managed to catch it, but the movement threw her off balance, and her free hand windmilled as she tried to stop herself from falling in. Jill grabbed her arm, pulling her round sideways, and Mew wrapped his tail round Sarah's waist. The two of them pulled her back, and she promptly sat down, still clutching the notepad. And staring at Mew. The pink psychic smiled broadly.

"Mew!"

"Nice catch," Jill said with a grin, although Sarah couldn't be sure if she or Mew were being complimented. Sarah shook her head sharply.

"What sort of pokémon is that?"

Jill's grin only widened, and Mewtwo appeared out of thin air as well.

"Sarah, Mew, Mew, Sarah. Mewtwo, Sarah, Sarah, Mewtwo," she introduced.

Sarah nodded slowly. "Oh…"

Jill smiled. "They're legendaries."

Windrunner let out a cry, and Jill whirled around.

"Seafoam Islands! At last!"

Her shout attracted the attention of Claire and Craig, who looked up sharply in the direction she pointed. The shore was getting closer rapidly, so Craig scrambled upright again, and Jill resumed her position by her Lapras's neck.

There was another jolt to those on board as the water-type arrived at the beach, and came to an abrupt halt. Windrunner pulled herself further onto the beach, so that her passengers could jump off without ending up soaked to the waist. Jill jumped down first, quickly followed by the others. As Jill returned Windrunner to her pokéball, Sarah released her Hypno from his, and Craig released his Alakazam.

There was a brief pause, and then, with a grin, Jill released Pawa and Ankh, and the others returned the smile, letting out most of their pokémon. Jill bobbed an odd hop-skip dance, and then span her way to the entrance. Craig blinked.

"What are you doing?"

She stopped, and grinned again. "Oh, nothing. Just sometimes I get overcome with joy at being in the world."

Claire and Sarah smiled, but Craig just shrugged. "Whatever."

Jill happily led the way into the caves. The first cavern was empty except for Blaine, the fire pokémon Gym Leader, and a ladder at the back. Sarah and Craig were fully prepared to stop and battle, but when Jill headed unswervingly for the ladder, they had to follow. Jill waved cheerily at Blaine as the group wandered past.

"Hi Blaine! We'll stop by on our way out, 'kay?"

The bemused Gym Leader cautiously returned the wave as they all trooped past and climbed down the ladder to the lower level.

The cave system below Seafoam Islands was dark, and water dripped from the walls and ceiling. Mewtwo kept an invisible shield around the group, so although they saw many pokémon, they weren't challenged. Confidently, Jill led them through the caves and caverns – up steps and down a ladder, then down steps, turning left and up steps and down steps and down a ladder, and then up more steps and into a maze of tunnels, so similar that none of the others could tell if they were going in circles. Mew bobbed ahead, glowing faintly, and Claire frowned at what she could see as she looked around.

"I've never been in this part of Seafoam before."

Jill turned slightly to flash a grin at the others, and continued on, turning left with a flourish.

"After the volcano, a while back, they reopened some of the old passages, and made some more besides. Apparently they also stumbled across some _really_ old tunnels that were hundreds of years old, too. But… I've never been in this part of Seafoam before either."

The four trainers came to a sudden halt, three of them with exclamations of shock and dismay, and one with a yelp of delight. Jill's eyes were widely innocent as she pointed at a thin, dark opening in the right wall.

"We _have_ to go in here! Come on!" she said with a grin, disappearing into the passage before anyone could say, "Why?"

They followed. They had little choice. After a brief hesitation and the feline equivalent of a shrug, Jill's Espeon led the other pokémon after their trainers.

The tunnel twisted and turned, always leading slightly upwards, and they were all moving in darkness except Jill, as Mew had darted in ahead of her. Finally, Jill popped out into a cavern of a similar size to the one Blaine waited in by the entrance. The others appeared quickly, and looked around as the boy sitting with his head on his arms glanced up. He stared blankly at them for a moment, as Ankh strolled in ahead of the other pokémon. Suddenly the boy leapt up with a yell.

"Don't move!"

But it was too late, and Mewtwo, the last pokémon, had already entered the cave. A slightly desperate sob from the boy surprised them all as he threw himself at the opening they had entered by, and hammered on the rock wall. Again, three trainers gasped in horror. There was no longer an opening in the wall. Jill was absorbed in staring happily at the other three walls, until Sarah coughed pointedly, and poked her shoulder. Jill glanced around, blinking as though she had only just noticed the others in the cave.

"What? Oh, that! That doesn't matter. Just look at these walls, will you? They're covered in _real_ Unown glyphs! Isn't it fantastic?" She wandered vaguely to the left, apparently the first, wall, and stared at the pictures. "Unown are cute," she muttered, and then said nothing more.

Mew floated over to sit on her shoulder and wrap his tail around her waist. The four pokémon trainers stared at her in stunned confusion until it was perfectly clear that she wasn't going to say any more for a while. Claire blinked slowly and then turned to the stranger, who was gazing at Mewtwo and then Mew, completely baffled. Claire shrugged slightly.

"Well, it doesn't look as if Jill," she nodded in the correct direction, "is doing the introductions. The small pink thing on her shoulder is Mew, and _that_ is Mewtwo. They're legendary pokémon."

Mewtwo gave Claire a long stare for such a disrespectful introduction, and she gulped, then remembered that Jill always ignored any similar objections from her pokémon – when directed at her, anyway – and nothing ever happened to _her_.

"I'm Claire," she continued, " and these are Sarah and Craig."

The boy nodded glumly. "I'm Andrew. What's the matter with your friend?"

He sat down, and the others followed suit, aware that they could be in the cavern for a while.

"She doesn't normally behave like this," Claire began, glancing over at Jill, who was now a quarter of the way through the first wall, and obviously concentrating hard.

"How long have you known her?" Andrew asked, and Claire cringed, before holding up a finger and nodding decisively.

"Good point."

Sarah sighed slightly, and turned her head to look at Mewtwo. "How long now?"

The psychic blinked slowly. "Twenty-three seconds more that when you last asked."

The four trainers leaning against the wall in a row all sighed.

"And how long does that make the total?" Sarah persisted in asking.

Mewtwo watched Jill blowing dust from some of the symbols on the other walls.

"We have been in this _particular _cavern for thirty-six minutes and three… four seconds."

Craig rolled his eyes to look at Andrew. "How long have you been in here, then?"

Andrew glanced vaguely at his watch. "About… four or five hours."

Craig closed his eyes. "And no way out, right?"

Andrew let the question go unanswered. They all knew the answer anyway. Claire sighed deeply again, and stared at the ceiling.

"Mewtwo? How long to high tide?"

The reply was less than encouraging.

"We will be unable to make our way through the tunnels if we delay our leaving any longer than another fifteen minutes. Water will start to enter this cavern in five, and it will also be entirely flooded in thirty-nine minutes, at full high tide."

The four of them groaned in unison.

Close to three minutes later, Jill blinked and smiled.

"I know what these walls say, now! Paper? Pencil? Hurry!"

Aware of the approaching deadline, the other four trainers scrambled up, and Sarah ripped a blank piece of paper from her drawing pad. Claire peered at the first wall of inscriptions.

"You mean you can read these, Jill?"

The younger girl nodded, writing hurriedly on the piece of paper. "It's easy when you know how."

Andrew pointed to a group of pictures. "I think that says fear."

Jill tapped the third symbol, and smiled oddly at her Espeon. "Yes, it does. That there is the Alpha Unown."

Sarah looked at the roof for patience. "Ahem! Can you get on with this, please? We don't have much time…"  
Jill nodded, and touched certain symbols in the border around the second wall, muttering something under her breath. Then she hurried back to the first wall and continued her writing.

"You can go now. I'll catch you up. Oh, but put your pokémon away before you go." She promptly paused to return her Umbreon and Espeon to their pokéballs, and then resumed her hasty scribble.

Andrew instantly turned to look, and the opening _had_ returned. Sarah and Craig put their pokémon inside their pokéballs, and Craig was halfway to following Andrew as Claire moved to stand beside Jill.

"If we leave, you'll become so involved in writing all this down that you'll forget to follow until it's too late, won't you?"

Jill grinned briefly at the wall. "Mmhmm. You'll get wet if you stay."

The remaining three trainers shrugged, as Jill neared the end of the first wall. Craig turned to Claire.

"I'll keep an eye on the water level in the tunnels."

Claire nodded. "Take Sunshine with you. She'll provide some light."

The boy and the Espeon disappeared down the reopened tunnel.

Andrew fidgeted slightly, watching Jill start copying down the Unown script from the second wall. "Look, I'm really grateful for you coming and opening the tunnel again and everything, but I don't know any of you, really, and I don't see a reason for me to stay…"  
Claire smiled and nodded. "You can leave, don't worry."

Jill whirled around with a forceful revelation. "No! You'd never find your way through the tunnels, and neither Mew or Mewtwo will guide you alone. Quite frankly, they'd guide all of you if Claire went, and none if not. You _must_ wait with us."

She whirled back to face the wall, and desperately tried to find her place. Claire blinked in surprise. Sarah was practically jumping up and down in anxiety.

"Why can't we just leave now, and come back after high tide has gone down? This place'll still be here, after all."  
Jill stamped her foot, hard. "No! It won't! I'll explain afterwards, but for now, _will you just let me write_?!"

There was silence in the cave for another minute or so, and then Andrew yelped, "There's water coming in!"

Mewtwo disdainfully levitated above the water level. "We have less than ten minutes in which to reach a higher level of these caves."

Jill nodded vigorously, turning onto the back of the paper, almost at the end of the second wall. "Just a few more minutes!"

Craig waded in, carrying Sunshine. "I'm up to my knees out there, and it's rising fast! We have to go!"

Jill dashed to the third wall, sending splashes of water everywhere. "Almost done! Give me two more minutes, and put Sunshine safely away!"

Mewtwo eyed the water in the cavern, and gestured for the four trainers to get outside. "Adjust to the water, and if you have any pokémon that can swim and are small enough to help you through the tunnels, let them out."

As Jill desperately scribbled down the meaning of the walls, Sarah led the way through the tunnel, in silence.

The water was more than halfway to Jill's knees by the time she'd finished. Quickly, she re-released her Espeon into her arms and gave her the folded paper to Hold, before putting her back in her pokéball. Then finally, with a last longing glance at the Unown script, she picked her feet up high and ran out of the tunnel. Mewtwo turned swiftly as she hurried out, and pulled her psychically to the front of the waiting group. Jill was waist deep in water and nearly fell, but Mew held her up.

"Come on! We haven't much time. You should have gone ahead with Mewtwo!"

She swept ahead forcefully, aware that the water was rising fast. Mew curled his tail around her wrist to lead her and she followed him through the tunnels, yelling a question back to the four struggling after her.

"What water pokémon have you got?"

Answers were called from the others, and she managed to work out that Craig and Andrew both had Blastoises, Claire had a Slowpoke, and Sarah a Starmie. Jill winced slightly. "Keep the Slowpoke and the Blastoises away, but let the Starmie out…"

Mew tugged urgently on her wrist, and as she rounded the next corner, she stopped talking for a moment. The empty cave they had crossed to reach the maze was underwater. The ladder at the other side was more than half submerged, and there was no way to descend the steps leading down from their side. There was certainly no way they could cross the cave without swimming.

"Right! Craig, Andrew, let your Blastoises out," she ordered, recovering her wits. "Craig, your Blastoise is big enough to take two, so Claire, go with him. Sarah, you'll have to hang on tight to your Starmie, and go that way."

Sarah frowned. "What about my drawings?"

Jill nodded sharply. "Give the pad to one of your pokémon to Hold, and then get yourself to that ladder!"

Andrew had already set off, but Claire, now that the end was in sight, was wearing a similar frown to Sarah's. "My Slowpoke can swim, you know."

Jill rolled her eyes. "It wouldn't understand what you were asking it to do until you started drowning. That's why they never use Slowpokes to swim with in the cart-" She broke off suddenly, blinked, and restarted on another track entirely. "Look, we don't have time to argue! Just go! Mew will take me."

_And Mew could take you all too, _she thought slowly, _except that you have to learn to trust your pokémon entirely, and known how to defeat unorthodox situations with their help. Like in the cartoons, which you haven't had the benefit of watching._

Mew impatiently pulled at her arm, and Mewtwo gave her a psychic shove for her delay. She took a deep breath and plunged into the water, eyes closed.


End file.
